Defrost water drain means



g- 1967 R. L. MCALLISTER v 3,334,494

DEFROSI WATER DRAIN MEANS Filed Aug. 4, 1966 INVENTOR. ROBERT L.McALusTER HlS ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,334,494 DEFROST WATERDRAIN MEANS Robert L. McAllister, Louisville, Ky., assignor to GeneralElectric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 4, 1966, Ser. No.570,335 3 Claims. (Cl. 62287) The present invention relates to ahousehold refrigerator and is more particularly concerned with arefrigerator including improved means for disposing of condensate formedduring defrosting of the evaporator or cooling unit component of therefrigerator.

Refrigeration including automatically defrosting evaporators requiresome means for collecting the the defrost water flowing from theevaporator during the defrost operation and for disposing of this wateroutside the cabinet.

A general object of the present invention is to provide a new andimproved condensate disposal means for directing the flow of condensatefrom a fixed condensate collecting pan onto a Vertical liner wall of therefrigerator.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe following description proceeds and the features of novelty whichcharacterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in theclaims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the present invention,there is provided a combination refrigerator comprising a one-pieceliner having walls including vertical, rear and side walls defining astorage volume having an access opening at the front thereof. The rearwall has a vertical groove therein forming part of the condensatedisposal means. A horizontal partition divides the interior of thestorage volume into an upper freezer compartment and a lower fresh foodcompartment and contains an evaporator for cooling the air in both ofthe compartments. The partition also includes a pan-shaped condensatecollecting member composed of sheet material and including a bottom walland an upwardly extending rear flange adjacent the liner rear wall. Thebottom wall of this member also forms the top wall of the fresh foodcompartment and includes a rearwardly sloping channel for collectingcondensate from the evaporator. This channel terminates at its lower endadjacent the vertical groove in the linear rear wall. For the purpose ofdraining the condensate from the pan-shaped member, the flange of thepan-shaped member has an opening therein opposite and spaced from thevertical groove and this opening includes a horizontal bottom edgeportion. A one-piece trough for bridging the space between the openingand the vertical groove is composed of a flexible material and includesa tapered rearwardly sloping bottom wall having a wide end for engagingthe bottom surface of the channel and a narrow end extending into thevertical groove. A pair of arms extending upwardly from the taperedbottom wall and terminating in hook-shaped ends which are adapted tolatch onto the bottom edge of the openings to provide means forsupporting the trough in operative position. These arms are of thelength effective to flex the trough and thereby wedge the trough betweenthe pan-shaped member and the liner rear wall.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may be made to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of a portion of the twotemperature refrigeratorembodying the present invent1on;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along line 2-2 ofFIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a detailed view of a portion of the structure of FIGURE 2.

With reference to the drawing, there is illustrated one embodiment ofthe present invention in the form of a refrigerator comprising insulatedwalls including a onepiece liner 1 defining the total storage volumewithin the refrigerator and a horizontal partition generally indicatedby the reference numeral 2 dividing this storage compartment into anupper freezer compartment 3 and a lower fresh food compartment 4. Theaccess openings above and below the partition are respectively closed bya freezer compartment door 5 and a fresh food compartment door 6.

A single evaporator or cooling unit 7 for refrigerating both of thecompartments is contained within the partition 2 and this evaporatorforms part of a refrigeration system (not shown), most of thecompartments of which are positioned in the lower portion of thecabinet.

The partition 2 comprises a lower member 10 of sheet material such asenameled sheet steel, including vertically extending flanges comprisinga rear flange 12 by means of which the member 10 is rigidly secured tothe rear wall 14 and to the opposed side walls 15 of the liner 1. Themember 10 is substantially coextensive with the interior of the liner 1and forms the top wall of the fresh food compartment 4. A body 16 ofrigid foamed plastic insulating material such as a rigid polystyrene orpolyurethane foam, is supported on the lower member 10 and issubstantially coextensive with the cross section of the liner so as tothermally separate and insulate the two compartments. The body 16 isformed to define a major portion of a chamber for housing the evaporator7, this chamber being covered or closed by a removable foamed plasticcover 17 which forms the top of the chamber. An upper member 18 of sheetmaterial such as enameled sheet steel is removably positioned over thecover 17 and forms the bottom wall of the freezer compartment 3.

For the purpose of maintaining the two compartments 3 and 4 at desiredoperating temperatures, air is circulated from the two compartments intocooling relationship with the evaporator 7 and the cooled orrefrigerated air returned to the two compartments by a fan 19. Morespecifically, air from the freezer compartment 3 is drawn into coolingrelationship with the evaporator 7 through a louvered passage 20 in theforward end of the partition 2 and refrigerated air is discharged fromthe fan back into the freezer compartment through an airsupply passage21. Air from the fresh food compartment 4 is drawn into heat exchangerelationship with the evaporator 7 through a passage 22 and the cooledor refrigerated air is returned to the fresh food compartment through apassage 23 and a distribution mean-s 24.

For the purpose of periodically removing the frost which has collectedon the evaporator 7, the cooling operation of the refrigerator isstopped and the evaporator 1 is warmed to defrosting temperature byenergization of an electric heater 25 extending the length of theevaporator and positioned to Warm all areas of the evaporator andadjacent surfaces. The condensate or defrost water flowing from theevaporator collects on a metal plate 26 positioned below the evaporatorand flows through an opening 27 in this plate and a cooperating opening28 in the insulating body 16 into a channel 29 provided in the member10. This channel 29 slopes rearwardly towards the rear wall 14 of theliner and terminates adjacent the rear flange 12 in a sump 30 defined inpart by a sloping portion of the bottom of the member 10 and a. slopingportion of the flange bottom of the flange 12. An opening 31 in theflange 12 having, as is shown more clearly in FIG- URE 3 of the drawing,a horizontal bottom edge 32 provides means for discharging the frostwater from the member 10.

By this arrangement the member in addition to forming the top wall ofthe fresh food compartment 4 also functions as a condensate collectingpan.

In order to convey the defrost water out of the cabinet, means areprovided for directing the water flowing through the opening 31 onto thelower wall 14 of the liner. This water after flowing onto the bottom ofthe liner is disposed through a suitable drain opening into the machinecompartment in accordance with the usual household refrigeratorpractices.

In accordance with the present invention, improved means are providedfor assuring the proper flow of the condensate or defrost water onto thelower wall 14 of the liner and downwardly along the rear wall of theliner. To this end rear wall 15 is provided with a vertical groove 33opposite to and adjacent the opening 31. For the purpose of bridging thespace between the portions of the flange 12 adjacent the opening 31 andthe groove 33, there is provided a one-piece trough 36 composed offlexible material (polyethylene) and shown in greater detail in FIGURE 3of the drawing. More specifically, this trough 36 has a generallytapered bottom wall 37 having a narrower end 38 adapted to extend intothe groove 33 and a wider end 39 adapted to engage the bottom surface ofthe channel 29 or more specifically the sump end thereof. Defrost waterflowing onto the trough 36 through the opening 31 is channeled towardsthe tapered end 38 by means of the side walls 41) provided on thetrough.

For supporting the trough 36 in operative position relative to theopening 31 and the channel 33 or more specifically in a sloping positionbridging the space between these two components, the trough 36 isprovided with a pair of spaced arms 41 extending upwardly from the topsurface of the bottom wall 37 and terminating as shown in FIGURE 2 inhook-shaped end portions adapted to latch over the bottom edge 32 of theopening 31 and anchor the trough in the desired position. These arms 41and associated latching or hook means facilitate the proper positioningof the trough. More specifically, the arms are of the length such as torequire a flexing of the bottom wall of the trough as it is placed intoposition in order to obtain a latching of the arms onto the lower edge32 of the opening 31. As a result, the trough is securely wedged betweenthe adjacent surfaces of the panshaped member and the liner rear wall ormore specifically the channel 33.

By this construction, the trough may be easily installed or removedwithout special tools or without the removal of any other parts of thecabinet. Furthermore this design permits the use of a relatively widerange of tolerances between the position of the member 10 and the rearwall 14 of the liner.

While there has been shown and described a specific embodiment of thepresent invention it will be understood that it is not limited theretoand it is intended by the appended claims to cover all suchmodifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. A refrigerator comprising a liner having walls including a verticalwall defining a storage volume having an access opening at the frontthereof,

said. wall having a vertical groove therein,

a pan-shaped member of sheet material rigidly secured to said linerwalls and including a bottom wall and an upwardly extending flangeadjacent said liner vertical wall,

an evaporator positioned above said member whereby condensate from saidevaporator collects in said member,

said flange having a condensate drain opening therein opposite andspaced from said vertical groove,

a one-piece trough for conveying condensate flowing from said openinginto said groove,

said trough being composed of a flexible material and including atapered sloping bottom wall having a wide upper end engaging the bottomsurface of said bottom wall, a narrow end extending into said groove andanchoring means extending upwardly from said tapered bottom wall adaptedto latch onto the bottom edge of said opening,

said anchoring means being of a length effective to flex said troughbottom wall and wedge said trough between said pan-shaped member andsaid liner rear wall.

2. The refrigerator of claim 1 in which said opening includes ahorizontal bottom edge portion and said anchoring means comprises a pairof spaced arms terminating in hook-shaped ends adapted to latch ontosaid bottom edge portion.

3. A refrigerator comprising a one-piece liner having walls includingvertical rear and opposed side walls defining a storage volume having anaccess opening at the front thereof,

said rear wall having a vertical groove therein,

a horizontal partition dividing the interior of said volume into anupper freezer compartment and a lower fresh food compartment,

an evaporator in said partition,

said partition comprising:

a pan-shaped member of sheet mate-rial including a bottom wall andupwardly extending rear flange adjacent said liner rear wall, saidbottom wall forming the top wall of said fresh food compartment andincluding a rearwardly sloping flat-bottomed channel for collectingcondensate from said evaporator and terminating at the lower end thereofadjacent said vertical groove,

said flange having an opening therein opposite and spaced from saidvertical groove, said opening including a horizontal bottom edgeportion,

a one-piece trough for conveying condensate flowing from said openinginto said groove,

said trough being composed of a flexible material and including atapered rearwardly sloping bottom wall having a wide end for engagingthe bottom surface of said channel, a narrow end extending into saidgroove and a pair of arms extending upwardly from said tapered bottomwall and terminating in hookshaped ends adapted to latch onto saidbottom edge of said opening,

said arms being of a length effective to wedge said trough between saidpan-shaped member and said liner rear wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,351,139 6/1944 McCloy 622873,213,639 10/1965 Schumacher 62281 WILLIAM J. WYE, Primary Examiner.

1. A REFRIGERATOR COMPRISING A LINER HAVING WALLS INCLUDING A VERTICALWALL DEFINING A STORAGE VOLUME HAVING AN ACCESS OPENING AT THE FRONTTHEREOF, SAID WALL HAVING A VERTICAL GROOVE THEREIN, A PAN-SHAPED MEMBEROF SHEET MATERIAL RIGIDLY SECURED TO SAID LINER WALLS AND INCLUDING ABOTTOM WALL AND TO UPWARDLY EXTENDING FLANGE ADJACENT SAID LINERVERTICAL WALL, AN EVAPORATOR POSITIONED ABOVE SAID MEMBER WHEREBYCONDENSATE FROM SAID EVAPORATOR COLLECTS IN SAID MEMBER, SAID FLANGEHAVING A CONDENSATE DRAIN OPENING THEREIN OPPOSITE AND SPACED FROM SAIDVERTICAL GROOVE A ONE-PIECE TROUGH FOR CONVEYING CONDENSATE FLOWING FROMSAID OPENING INTO SAID GROOVE, SAID TROUGH BEING COMPOSED OF A FLEXIBLEMATERIAL AND INCLUDING A TAPERED SLOPING BOTTOM WALL HAVING A WIDE UPPEREND ENGAGING THE BOTTOM SURFACE OF SAID BOTTOM WALL, A NARROW ENDEXTENDING INTO SAID GROOVE AND ANCHORING MEANS EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROMSAID TAPERED BOTTOM WALL ADAPTED TO LATCH ONTO THE BOTTOM EDGE OF SAIDOPENING, SAID ANCHORING MEANS BEING OF A LENGTH EFFECTIVE A FLEX SAIDTROUGH BOTTOM WALL AND WEDGE SAID TROUGH BETWEEN SAID PAN-SHAPED MEMBERAND SAID LINER REAR WALL.